A Destiny Unchanged
by youxcan'txstop
Summary: When the hands of time have all but killed the knowledge he needs, the spirits send a vessle to teach him, but when all she has to go off of are hazy memories of a life half-lived, how can they possibly expect to save the themselves, much less the world?
1. One Way to Know

This takes place around the beginning of season 3, between "The Awakening" and "The Headband" Episodes and this is probably AU (And I know I shouldn't be starting a new series, but I kinda wanted to do this :P) so I was talking with a fellow Mai-disliker, and I think, well, you know waht I'll let pairings reveal themselves :DDDDDD

*Discaimer I don't own Inuyasha or Avatar the Last air bender

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CH 1  
****"One Way to Know..."**

"Argh" The young girl hissed out gripping her temples and pressing with her thin fingers, seeing another flash of glowing white eyes and arrows "What the heck" she mumbled, letting the small basket she held fall to the ground, the herbs she was collecting spreading back to the grass from where it came "Ugh" she hissed out, feeling another painful flash, like something was stabbing her brain, seeing the snarling gnashing teeth of a mange covered creature trying to snap up her arm 'Oh my god' Kagome thought, opening her blue eyes and looking towards the sun 'Why are these visions..what are they?' she asked herself, swallowing what little saliva she had left and sucking in a deep breath, as the sun burned away the painful images, and the sore pinch that was resounding through her skull fading 'Why have they been coming more and more often' she asked almost miserably, grabbing at a handful of the herbs she'd dropped and the small basket she had.

'Never mind' she thought, looking in the direction of the small cluster of huts that was her little hamlet, nothing but a hole in the wall squatting place for refugees and injured soldiers, she was the only one who's stayed there, and wasn't quite sure why she did, she had no family, and all those she'd known were too sickly or poor to care for themselves, let alone her 'I have to..I' she blinked, turning back to where she was sitting, in a field bordering the edge of the forest that was supposed to be the dividing line of small villages and Fire nation colonies near the coast, relatively unknown and hidden to the destructive eye of the invaders 'Is..someone calling me?'

Kagome set her small basket on the ground following the far away voice that was calling her "Hello?" Kagome yelled out stepping around the gnarled roots of trees, being careful not to break her ankle tripping over one "Hello!" Kagome yelled, feeling her gut pull her deeper towards the center of the forest

*Snap*

"Who's there?" Kagome said nervously, feeling a flood of anxiety rush through her 'Oh god, what if it's some drunk come to rape me, or worse...' she thought looking all around for the intruder,and darting further into the forest thick with green and brown 'Where..did I come from..' Kagome thought panicking when she couldn't see what was obviously there, and in her haste had forgotten the direction she came from

*Rustle*

"Human" 'it' said forcefully, stepping fom around a thick patch of shrubs "I thought I smelled dinner" a scaled creature hissed, its small curved claws cutting through the rotting leaves on the forest floor easily, its eyes glowing crimson

"W-What Are You?" Kagome screamed, feeling her legs give out below her, as she pressed her back against a tree, feeling the pulse in her ear drown out everything eles "Go away" she commanded desperately, trying to pull herself back up from where she sat on the forest floor

"I'm afraid I can't do that" it hissed out sinisterly, it's bulging red eyes seeming to bleed darker "I am quite starving, and you're the only human that's been here all day" it said barring a set of rotting yellow at her and walked a bit closer to her, and swishing his tail around behind him "Heh, you know it's best that you're here" it said, letting the side of it's heavily scaled body rest beside a tree "I was planning on devouring every last human in your little village tonight" it said grinning at her horrified face "you'll save them for another few days"

'I've got to get out of here' Kagome stared at the lizard like demon, trying to see an escape route

"Come on girly" it hissed out roughly in it's gravel voice "There's no way you'll escape me, so just stop looking for a way out" it said, a large amount of saliva dripping from its mouth and onto the ground

"Agh" Kagome hissed out falling to the floor, letting one hand cover her throbbing head, the other digging into the ground and holding her in place 'Why do I keep seeing these...things' Kagome yelled mentaly, seeing another searing flash of glowing arrows and eyes blotting out her vision

"Okay, just hold still then girly, this'll be quick for the both of us" it said takeing another step forward, and rocking the very ground with his weight

Kagome glared at it, ignoring the sharp pain in her mind, and the image that was whiting out every other thought she had 'I can't let this..monster kill me' she thought to herself, fisting her small hand tightly and waiting for it to strike

"Good bye girly, I'm sure you'll have better luck in the next world" It screeched, lunging for her

'Now!' she told herself, tossing the clump of sand and leaves she had, rolling out of the way and narrowly missing getting hit by the creature curved talons 'Ah, wich way, wich way' she asked herself paniced

"Agh, you stupid bitch!" the lizard like creatuer screamed, thrashing it's head around, and slamming its powerful tail into anything near by "I'm going to skinn you alive and feast on the marrow of your bones!"

Kagome ran, darting in the direction furthest from the creature 'I need..I need to' Kagome bit down on her bottom lip, making it bleed "I can't go to the village, no one there is anywhere close to fighting condition, and I can't go to the Fire nation colonies, they would sooner kill themselves than help an earth nation village" she mumbled to herself, hearing a loud rustle further ahead of her ''It' can't be ahead of me, I left it a while ago' Kagome thought scared, running towards her left

"Run, run girly, I'll still catch you" the gravely voice hissed out from behind her

'No' Kagome thought taking a sharp right and barely dodging a low hanging branch 'He's just toying with me' she thought seeing a break in the trees 'Maybe I'm back at the village' Kagome thought, feeling her chest heave heavily up and down, air rasping through her dry lips 'Maybe he doesn't want humans to see him' she thought hopefuly, taking the last coupe quick strides into the bright clearing 'Oh shit' she thought stopping cold a few meters from the break in the trees

"Heh" it laughed, stopping at the break in the trees and snarling at her "HAHAHAHA Stupid human, you were going the wrong way, and now that I've cornered you, out in the open you can't hide behind any more damn trees" it said, sand still covering it's eyes

'Ah, damn it' Kagome thought frustrated with herself "HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE!" she shrieked, running to the furthest corner of the bottom of the rock ledge and pressing her spine to the rock's surface "PLEASE HELP ME!" she screamed raising her arms and shielding herself, seeing the face that had glowing eyes and an arrow on his head 'Help me _Aang_' she pleaded internally, feeling the rush of air as the lizard creature sprang at her

"Get away from her!" a forceful voice yelled a loud crack resounding as something was slammed into the sharp jagged rock "Hey are you okay?" a young boy asked tugging on her sleeve

"I um" Kagome said, opening her blue eyes to see a large boulder hurling through the air into the monster "I'm..not hurt" Kagome said unsure, checking he arms for blood 'Weird, I could have sworn I felt-'

"Heh, come and get it garbage breath!" a defiant voice called, with a replied guttural snarl from the lizard thing that was attacking her as it lunged for a small grinning girl "Stand back Katara, I got this one" the girl said barring her teeth at the monster and hitting the ground with her heel, sending a pillar of rock into it's stomach and pinning its struggling body against the rock face

"Let me free insolent human" it screamed in agony, the surface of it's skin siging and turning black from where the girl's pillar touched it "I'll devour you're soul!"

"Now, now mister lizard, you need to work on your people skills" a boy with a pony tail and a boomerang in his hand said, looking towards the monster "threatening to devour our souls will earn you another five minutes in the time out..rock" it just howled an ear splitting scream, cursing every generation of human that lead up to the 'Wench of an Earth Child' that currently was sitting on a small makeshift rock seat picking at the pebbles between her toes

"Aang, is she okay?" a girl with mocha skin and crystal blue colored eyes asked placing a hand on the younger boy's shoulder

"I dunno, she says she is, but, then again, it looks like she's been on the run from this thing for a little while" he said, finally getting Kagome to focus on his face

"...you're the boy I've been having visions of" Kagome said blinking and staring into his wide grey eyes, filling with the same recognition hers were

"You're the girl Guru Pathik told me to find, the one I saw in the swamp" he said excitedly, looking, slightly down at her

"Kagome!"

"Aang..?"

"Do you two, know each other?" the darker skinned girl asked, looking suspiciously at Kagome

"She's the one I had to find Katara, the _Miko_" the boy said excitedly, grinning widely at Kagome and Katara, who were exchanging weird glances with each other

'Miko?' Kagome thought seeing the girl's surprised face, and seeing the yougest girl and older looking boy further away from them perk up in response to the unfamiliar word

"She can't be" the pale girl said, shaking her head and moving her long bangs that were covering milky white eyes standing up from her flat rock seat and ignoring the growls that were eminating from the scaled monster, who was digging his clawed paws into the stone "she couldn't even handle ugly here, and he's got to be one of the weakest ones we've found" she said, standing up from her flat rock seat and twitching at the growls that were emanating from the scaled monster, who was digging his clawed paws into the stone "Shut up garbage breath, or else I'll turn you into nothing but a smudge on the side of this rock" she snarled nastily, whipping around and glowering at the beast

"No" Aang said stubbornly, standing in front of Kagome and frowning at his friends "I know it's her Toph" he said looking down and pursing his lips "I...I can feel it"

"If you say so Aang" the boy with the pony tail said, walking up to her and looking at her face "you know she does _kinda _look like the one we saw in the book in the Spirit library" he said narrowing his eyes at her "Does the name Kikyo ring any bells?"

"Sokka, if she's a reincarnation she doesn't have to look like her old self, Aang, Roku, and Kiyoshi look nothing alike, and they're the same spirit" the dark skinned girl said to the boy that looked suspiciously like her "That includes remebering names"

"What are you guys even talking about?" Kagome asked stepping back a little and feeling rock behind her

"Oh, sorry!" the boy, Aang said, sending her a reassuring smile "Kagome, you're supposed to be my spiritbending teacher" he said grinning widely at her

"I don't understand what you mean" she said her face betraying the slight fear and confusion that was flowing through her 'Ugh god' she thought, feeling another sering pinch in her head, visions of white hair and glowing pink enveloping her sight

"But you have too, you're a _miko_-"

"Aang" the girl with dead eyes said, stepping forward and pursing her lips "She...doesn't know what you're talking about" she said frowning at the background noise of the lizard that was still screeching

"But Roku..." he *sighed* biting his lip and looking at her, reaching out to touch her hand "I'm sorry Kagome, but-" he started, seeing a bright light reflect in Kagome's eyes 'There we go' he thought internaly 'Roku can tell us everything when we get there'

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O.o So I've spent the past few days reading through the manga of Fairy Tail, and it's official, I love it (now I want to write a one-shot with Gajeel and Levy XDDDDDD that makes like...3 one-shots on my to-do list, plus updates for my other stories...crap


	2. Past Selves of the Present

What's up guys? How's summer been? Mine's been okay, I got a kitty cat (his name's Balthazar :3 and I luurrvveee him, even though he's a bit of a spaz) haha, and I'm finaly being introduced to the big wide world of teenage hormones :DDD (that basicly means that i've been extremely interested in some of my friend's ex's, sooo that means this year will be...interesting, and I'll have a bit more real life experience when i write about the romance aspect of this story *Yay*)

Anyways, I'm ssoooo srry i've been neglecting my fanfiction duties, i've just been a little uninspired lately, but no worries, I'm almost done with a Toko one-shot that'll help get my creative juces flowwing. And I love your reviews (I was reading the one from DogHanyou and it made me blush, haha, I have no idea how i'd tie together something as silly as Fairy Tail with Inuyasha :P)

*disclaimerI don't own Inuyasha or Avatar

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**Ch2 **

**"Past Selves of the Present"**

'What is..How did I get here?' Kagome thought, seeing herself surrounded by inky darkness an the faint silhouettes of two others a bit a head of her 'Is it..Aang?' "Excuse me?" Kagome said taking a few steps closer to the other two strangers "Where are we?"

"Go back, I wont allow them to harm you" a young girl of merely twelve yelled, pushing a much taller boy in the chest

"Ren, it's too much for you to handle" An older teenage boy pleaded, reaching out and grabbing her hand "I can-"

"I am your guardian Satoshi!" she yelled, ripping away from his grip "This is my destiny"

'Nope, defiantly not Aang, but they don't seem like they're fire Nation' Kagome thought making out faint shades of grey and white on the clothes that hung loosely on both of the young children, draping over their thin frames"Hey!" Kagome called out, seeing fire washing in through the trees around her,lighting up their haunting faces "HEY! Guys, we need to get out of here!" Kagome screamed, running up to them "Don't you see the fire!Can't you...see I'm glowing blue?" Kagome mumbled, staring at her translucent hand frozen in front of her, inches from the others shoulders

"And I'm the Avatar, it's my destiny to-" Satoshi said, tears welling up in his eyes

"Live and protect the future of this world" The girl said her expression steeling into a hard unfeeling mask "and I'll do my job as Miko and protect you from demons"

"Don't do this Ren" he said bowing his head tears dripping silently from his face "I can't lose you too" He said his pained whisper almost drowned out by the spreading flames

"Satoshi" Ren said, laughing hollowly "you know you can never truly lose me" she said, turning around towards Kagome "When we grow old and die, our souls will be reborn and be together again" she said walking slowly forward "It's as 'predictable as the tides', like Kohnan used to say" she said stopping and looking back at him "And you know how right he always was" she said running through Kagome, and into the flames

"Ren..." the boy whispered brokenly his body collapsing where he stood, flames creeping around him "why must you do this alone" he said, disappearing into the pitch black smoke and ash

"Kagome"

"Aang?" Kagome said looking around and seeing nothing but burning black trees "Where are you?"

"Up here" he called from a top blue dragon, plummeting towards her "Grab on" he said, reaching out his hand to hers

'Burn alive in this weird..space where people can walk through me, or risk becoming dragon food' Kagome asked herself internally "Uh, man, if it weren't for the fact that fire translates to death then I would take it over the dragon anyday" Kagome mumbled out raising her hand to his and feeling him tug her from the earth 'that was weird...I don't weigh anything here..' Kagome thought, setting herself on the great serpent

"Did you see us?" he asked, turning himself around to look at her, his large eyes sparkling with interest

"Uh, no, I've never seen myself without using the reflection of water" Kagome said numbly, feeling no wind as they flew "Where are we?"

"Oh, sorry about that" Aang said rubbing the back of his head "We kinda got sent to the spirit world, we're going to meet Roku now so he can explain this stuff to you and that boy and girl down there" he said smiling widely at her "That was us in our past lives, it was our last memory together from centuries ago"

"Okay...three questions, who's Roku and what do you mean by 'stuff', how do I know this is even real, and why, for the love of Kami, are we blue?" Kagome said crossing her arms across her chest and frowning at him

"Umm..." Aang said pursing his lips and twiddling his thumbs for a few seconds and taking a deep breath of air and speaking quickly in a huge rush of air "Well, Roku was the past Avatar before me and by stuff I mean the whole you being the Miko reborn to teach me spirit bending, I can't really prove it's real since we can't feel anything physical in the Spirit World so that means no pinching, and the whole blue thing, I think it's cause we are human spirits, cause me and all my other past lives are blue but the other spirits just aren't, but I'm not certain" he said breathing heavily "And *Huff* We're here" he said, as the flying serpent slowed to hovering just above a flat and cloud covered mountain top

"Kagome" a wisened old man said, his wrinkled skin sitting proudly above strong, old bones "You're here" he said sending her an almost secret smile

"I'm going to assume you are Roku" Kagome said pushing her now weightless form the scaled beast, bowing slightly to him "Aang said you would explain...well whatever it is you can explain"

"Yes, you see, you are the human reincarnation of the collective spirit and energy of the same people who helped to create the Avatar state" he said, his towering frame cutting between Kagome and Aang as he lead them over to a large expanse of cloud that rose to their chests "Many millenia ago the physical world was in turmoil, beings of all planes were converging on earth in an attempt to claim our world as their own" he said as the clouds began to flicker in different colors of grey and black "The spirits that make up the world were powerless to defend the earth, and we were thrust into a dark era of destruction" he said waving his hand over the water vapor and revealing scenes of gruesome corpses and scorched earth stretching from one horizon to the next "The earth was dying, and along with it, the spirits of this world too were withering away to nothingness" Roku said, the same foggy agony in his eyes as Aang's

'This is just like I'd dreamed' Kagome thought, liftng the tips of her fingers to touch the mist, swirling it into another scene

"But, in this madness and destruction, what was left of the humans were able to develop the power to come to this world" he said seeing a small dark figure in the mist rise and approach the shapeless forms of grey around it "They pleaded with the spirits for protection, and offered themselves and their children as tribute, to be used as vessel of the spirits to drive away the invaders, " Roku said as the grey forms flew into the humans "The spirits agreed, coalescing small parts of each humans soul into the first Miko protector, whom you are reincarnation of. Some Spirits even stayed upon the earth, leaving traces of their passing in the animals that lived there, and over time, the human race split into factions, representing the elements and animals of their regions." he said, his hand passing once more over the churning vapor "But they could not rid the earth of every demon, fore they too are beings of flesh. The earth, in order to prevent such a time of chaos from reoccurring, poured a portion of itself into a single human spirit, to keep balance for the rest of time. While the spirits and humans, along with the help of their Miko and Avatar saviors, were able to seal most of the powerful demons, there are some that live in the heavens even in your time, who appear before humans, usually to feast, manipulate or mate resulting in-"

"Hanyous" Kagome breathed out covering her mouth and staring with wide eyes at the two of them 'how do I know this?' she thought shutting her eyes and seeing white hair and red robes

"...Yes, a half-human, half-demon hybrid, keep an open mind for these torchered beings, just as you have in past lives, for not all demons of their cildren are evil" he said looking past Kagome and then back at her "Now You've not much time, in this world, your powers are new to you, and you're still getting used to the flood of memories" he said placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on Aang's "Stay with Aang and his friends, they will protect you until you remember to protect yourself" Roku said smiling at her "It was an honor to meet you, Miko" she heard him say, before everything was drowned out by the feeling of her being pulled back through her own skin

"Sokka, Toph, they're waking up"

"I'll be there in a second Katarra, just let me finish crushing Lizard Lips, you know how Twinkle Toes gets when he sees their bodies before they're 'gone'"

Kagome groaned, pressing the heel of her hands into her eyes and rubbing them "Ugh, does spirit traveling always make your head hurt this much?" Kagome asked sticking a hand into her fluffy black hair and feeling warm wetness just below the base of her skull 'Oh no'

"Ooh, uhh, Ka-Kagome, about that you, umm, kinda fell just now when you came back to your body" Katarra said, unscrewing the cap from the canteen she had slung around her and water bending some of it onto her hands "could you hold your hair while I heal it?"

Kagome nodded numbly, feeling her now sticky fingers knotting up in her hair, slicks of blood dripping down her spine 'Just breath, relaxe' she told herself, breathing through her mouth 'It's just blood, I need it to live, just...picture it going back to where it came from'

Katarra gasped, letting the water she was using fall to the ground "What was that?"

"What...do you mean 'what?'" Sokka asked, leaning around Aang and Toph to look at his sister "did she bring back a spirit leech? or maybe she popped her newly grown second head when she fell!" Sokka said his eyes twitching slightly

"Sokka don't be ridiculous, she doesn't have a second head" Katarra snapped back at him, bending more water onto her hands and looking closely at the back of Kagome's neck

"Whatever" Sokka mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest "I bet her hair is that long so she can hide it's face"

"Hey jerk!" Kagome yelled grabbing a small stone from the ground and throwing it at his back "I'm right here, and just so you know I'm not deformed" she said her lower lip sticking out in a pout

"You did it again" Katarra said, small droplets of water falling along Kagome's back "Whatever you're doing, it's releasing chi fom inside you..." Katarra said, frowning and looking over to Aang "The first time, when I was healing her, it made it stronger, almost like...she was healing herself, and this time she just.." Katarra said trailing off

"What did I do to you?" Kagome said worriedly, her small fingers lightly tracing her neck around her wound

"You..didn't exactly take my bending away...because I can still bend when your energy isn't incontact with me, but it's like I was telling the water to do one thing, and it stopped listening to me"

"But Katarra that only happens when someoneis a stronger bender than you" Toph said looking at the blue eyed girl with a suspicious air "And she's not a water bender, she's not from either of the water tribes, so, if anything, since she's an earth kingdom peasant she'd most likely be an earth bender"

Kagome just looked at Toph through hooded eyes frowning at the girl 'What makes her so high and mighty, she looks just as much a peasant in those singed and dirty clothes as I do' Kagome thought, looking at the others' clothes when she noticed their similar states of disrepair 'in fact, they all look like they've just fought a firebender or seven'

"Earth to Kagome"

"Move over Twinkle Toes, I'll get her out of her little trance" the youngest girl dressed in tattered green clothes said, grinning and cracking her knuckles

"I don't think smashing her face into a thousand tiny pieces is necessary Toph" Sokka said looking straight at her

"So I'm a Miko." Kagome said, seeing Aang grin and nod at her vigorously, his short mahogany brown hair shinning in the sunlight "And I was born to protect you, but since I don't know anything, you all are going to protect me...until I learn how..again" Kagome said huffing slowly at the absurdity of it 'how ridiculous, that's almost an oxymoron' "So I'm stuck with you guys then"

"Acutuly, you were born to protect Aang and teach him spirit bending" The eldest boy with a ponytail said pulling out a small map and tilting his slightly egg shaped head at it "And you've only got a few weeks to get on that, the invasion date is set and you cannot be a liability to us, not during the biggest battle of our lives" he said giving her a serious look

"Sokka, she's just meeting us, you can't expect her to be an expert-"

"Why not, all of you were at least some asset to the team when you joined, and she's coming in with the least experience, around the most crucial time-"

"But unlike us she's just now finding out what she's meant to do" Aang said his expression souring a bit as he leaned protectively towards Kagome "If worst comes to worst I'll protect her"

Sokka sighed, his chest deflating along with his tone "What I mean is that on the day of black sun, the fire benders will lose their bending for a few minutes only, but if you're distracted from taking on the fire lord cause you're too busy guarding your so called 'gaurdian'-"

"Enough, alright, I'm sure you wont have to change up your precious plan for the invasion because we have a new ally" Katarra said glaring angrily at her brother

"Fine whatever" he said in a sour tone, presenting the map to the others "alright, so the next closest Island within the fire Nation is this one, we can rest there and set up camp until we get disguises" he said sliding his finger to a larger dot centimeters from the other on the map "Here is the next biggest town, here, we'll restock on provisions, since most of our meat supplies were left on the ship, and we can go from there"

"So wait...the fire benders can loose their fire bending?" Kagome asked, staring wide eyed at them "Why doesn't the rest of the world know this?"

*Sigh* "Will someone volunteer to clue her in while we're on Appa?" Toph said flicking a booger from her finger "It's kind of annoying that she doesn't know anything"

"What's an Appa?" Kagome asked tilting her head, and seeing Toph smack her head and mumble something

"Hehe, you're gonna love him" Aang said, pulling out a small white, bison shaped whistle and blowing on it

"Alright so don't freak out, he won't eat you" Katarra said smiling reassuringly at her, as a giant shadow was cast over them from the cliff above "And he's kinda big..."

"Is he a dragon like the one we road in the spirit world" Kagome asked, squinting her eyes in the sunlight, a massive figure weaving what looked like a large flat tail through the air as it floated down

"Nah, Appa's a flying bison" Aang said grinning at her and whispering in her ear "Don't tell Roku, but I think flying bison are cooler than dragons" he said running up and petting the massive fluffy beast

"That thing flies" Kagome said, surprised, as she fet a heavy tap on her shoulder "Yes-AHH!" Kagome screamed, batting away a startled screeching Momo who flew behind Appa "What is that thing?" Kagome said breathlessly, clutching just over her heart

"Haha, Scaredy Cat here's terrified of MOMO? Man Twinkle Toes, you sure picked a great teacher to help you take on demons" Toph said laughing histericaly at their newest member

'Ehh..What? I've been dubbed 'Scaredy Cat', and the Avatar is 'Twinkle Toes'? I wonder what her nickname is 'The Jerk wadd' maybe' Kagome thought sorly, emmbaressed by her little scene that she'd caused

"Come on Kagome, we're leaving for Tobihi town on Hinoko Island" Sokka said pulling up Toph into the large saddle paced on Appa'a back, while Katarra and Aang were situating themselves "We gotta leave now if we're gonna stay on schedule" he said, offering her his hand to help her up

Kagome looked at each of them, then turned around to try and see her village hidden in the thick forest she'd come running from 'Some how' Kagome thought, taking his hand and being pulled up into th saddle 'I always knew that village wasn't my home' Kagome thought smiling at the others, as they lifted off the ground, the earth dissipating slowly from their view, her small village made of broken soldiers and refugees fading out of sight 'Some how, they feel like the warm loving people everyone I've known has lost' she thought as Katarra began moving her arms gracefully, slowly 'These are the ones that give hope to a hopeless people' water vapor began surrounding them in a protective covering making them look to the outside world as nothing more than a cloud 'To a hopeless me' she thought, looking towards Aang who had a cautious looking Momo in his lap

"Are you sad to be leaving your home?" Aang asked, something nostalgic and sad echoing through his eyes

"Edo was never a home, because I've never had a family to share it with" Kagome spoke, the words leaving her mouth before she could think of them

"Oh.." Aang said blushing in shame for bringing it up "I-I am sorry, I didn't know"

"Don't be" Kagome said, seeing the cloud disappear from around Appa they were flying above the clouds, pink and golden from the light of the rising sun "life there was dark and full of scared and calloused people" she said, the top of the sun revealing itself from the sea of clouds "I'm kind of glad to be leaving" she said marveling at the view "Is this what you always wake up too? This shining beauty?" Kagome asked gesturing to the sea of color they were flying above

"Sometimes" Aang said turning his head to the darkerpart of the sky "And sometimes things go wrong, and it's this horrible ugly monster just staring you in the face, waiting for you to mess up so it can swallow you alive" he said placing a hand on his back and frowning "And other times it's that big splotchy grey area where you can beat the ugly monster but there's nothing but emptiness left in it's wake"

"It almost sounds like you hate the grey area the most" Kagome said leaning on the edge of the saddle with him, looking at him through the corner of her dark cobalt blue eyes

"I don't know what I hate" Aang mumbled, shaking his head and letting the melancholy look that had been dominating his features disappear "Anyways" he said cheerily a youthful gleam in his eyes "There's more important things to talk about" he said turning around along with Kagome to see the rest of the members attempting to be nonchalant by whistling and twiddling their fingers

'Eavesdropping?' Kagome tought sweatdropping at their clearly guilty faces

"Well you might as well hear our story from the beginning" Aang said, relaxing into the saddle "It started 100 years ago, when I was frozen in ice-"

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I've rewritten this ending like 4 times, not because I was unhappy with it, I just can't use word processor anymore and I forget to save it on the website every time I'd get around the end :(  
I need a better system for this :/

Review! For the love of God Review! Or else I'll take another few months off of fanfiction


	3. Control

Whhooootttt! Guess who's back (back, back, back) Back again? lol Yay! I wanted to have this out before new years but, ehhh, vacation was hectic, But be very happy for me! I'm going to Japan this summer for a few weeks! Whoooooo! Anyone know where to get yukatas cheap in Tokyo or Kyoto?

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_**CH 3**_

_**"Control"**_

"Is this really for the best?"

"Yeah, we have to look like the locals, since no one's supposed to know Aang is still alive" Sokka, the oldest of the group said, peeking out from behind a rock "Okay, coast is clear, time to get our disguise" he said happily, running a head with the others, a decidedly more timid and cautious Kagome trailing behind

"Come on Kagome, that guy's not gonna sleep forever, and Katara and Toph might take all the good clothes before you even get a chance to look" Sokka said jokingly, peeking at the man passed out drunkenly on his porch just in case

"Aw, is scardy cat afraid of some worthless, bum fire nation man?" Toph teased ripping some clothes from the line and walking steadily back to where they left Appa

Kagome said nothing to the rude girl, and simply looked sideways at the man on his porch, her unease apparent in her stance

"Kagome, it's okay, he's just a harmless villager, he can't hurt us or anything" Aang said taking a well matching uniform from the line, and a headband to cover the beginnings of an arrow on his forehead

"It's not that, I mean of course I'm uncomfortable, we're in the damned Fire Nation, but..." Kagome looked over to him and the others a slight smile on her face like she was laughing at herself "I just can't help feel a little bad for this guy, I mean, he's gonna have to explain how he lost so many clothes when his family gets home"

Toph scoffed at the thought pounding a few rock walls up as she changed "Do you think we should grab them all, so he won't have to explain why only some were left?" Toph asked feeling her shake her head vigorously in refusal

"Then hurry up, the sooner we leave here the more time we have accessories to shop for" Katara said cheerily pulling her clothes from the line

~xXXx~

"Kagome, Toph and I got something, you should get one too" Katara said, pulling her towards the small stand full of baubles and trinkets

"Kay, why not" 'Might as well get something I like since it doesn't seem like I won't be getting out of these any time soon' She thought looking down disappointedly at her outfit, which consisted mostly of a fairly thin layered white and dark red gi, cropped short that finished around her hips, deep red skirt reaching to her mid thigh, with white tights reaching just a bit further down her legs than the skirt sitting underneath, a metal belt clinched around her midsection decorated with twin strings and several beads served to hold the slightly large top in place, and some sandals tied up to her mid calf completed her current outfit 'Red is such a horrible color, so bloody. This would be so much cuter in green' she thought, looking over the merchant's wears with a disappointed look before something caught her eye "How much is that?"

"One copper piece, lady" the man said, taking the money Katara held out for him

"Thank you" Kagome said turning with the others as they walked the fairly crowded streets 'Such a plain necklace, made from loosely stringing together broken shells from the beach, but, it's nice, pretty' Kagome mused, tying together the ends of it so it hung around her neck

"Okay, so how about we get some meat!" Sokka suggested happily, trotting off in the direction of a shop with various meats hanging in the windows

"Wait! I'm vegetarian remember? Besides, we need to go find something for Kagome to fight with" Aang protested, tugging on the others, pulling the in the opposite direction

"Come on Aang, Weapon hunting can wait, it's time to EAT" Sokka whined making puppy dog eyes at the food shop

"You know, I'm with Sokka on this one" Katara said turning her clear blue eyes on Aang "Don't you think it'll look a little more than suspicious if a bunch of kids are running around town trying to buy sharp pointy weapons?"

Aang just stood there and frowned at the reasonable case Katara made 'Your common sense is full of poop' he thought, rolling his eyes at the completely incoherent retort he'd come up with

"Well I'd rather go with Twinkle Toes and Miss Kitty on an adventure for cool stuff like weapons than just lazing about this dump all day like Sokka planned" Toph said, looking with unseeing eyes at the two siblings

"Then it's settled, Aang, Toph and I are going shopping, while you two eat, when should we meet back with Appa?" Kagome asked, glancing at the others

"Ah, how about before sunset?"

"That works, come on" Sokka said dragging his sister into the food shop "Let's get some chow"

"Right, so Twinkle Toes, what did you have in mind for her?" Toph said peering around Kagome to face Aang

"Well Honestly, it's whatever she's best at" Aang said looking at her expectantly "What do you want to try fighting with Kagome?" He asked, as if he already knew the answer, and was just waiting for her to figure it out too

"Uh, well, I'm not really good with weapons, I mean I've never even held any unless you count cooking knives and garden hoes" Kagome said embarrassed 'Well I may be some blessed Miko with enough spirit energy to rival the Avatar's, but up until now, I've lived as a Earth kingdom peasant, I don't know what they were expecting me to say'

"Hmm, well we can go to a shop and you can just try one if you like it" Aang said, seeming a bit disappointed

"Sure, but can I make one suggestion?" Toph said, attempting to whisper to Aang as they walked "I wouldn't suggest anything that forces close range, as she is now, she won't have a chance to master anything like that"

"I dunno, I just feel like Kagome should pick, it's something she'll master, I'm sure" Aang said, smiling at her as they entered a cave like shop

"Hmm so shortness thinks I shouldn't have anything close range" Kagome mumbled, looking through the shelves for something nice "Hmm, what about this?" Kagome asked, pulling out a clip on pouch full of throwing knives "This isn't exactly 'close range'"

"Eh, No" Aang said sweat dropping "Mai will always have you beat with those" he said walking over to another section of the store

'Oh right, ixne on the knives because some dead looking chick is supposed to be crazy good at them' Kagome thought searching the 'Extra pointy' section again for good measure and not finding anything 'Man, where's the positive reinforcement?' she thought strolling over to a section labeled 'Multi Use' "Ohh! this one's cool!" Kagome said pulling out a black leather whip "What about it?" she said attempting to crack it against the ground

"Uhh Kagome, I don't think that's really for fighting" Aang said, while Toph busted a gut, gasping out with more than a little effort "I can't believe she found the only sex toy in the store and thought it was a real weapon"

Kagome pouted, putting back the whip 'but I'm never gonna get anything good if you keep telling me no' she thought searching through the next section "Hey how do you use this?" Kagome said bringing Aang a blunted curved piece of wood

"Uh Kagome that's a boomerang, Sokka already uses one of those, but it is long range, why don't you look for a-"

"Hey kid! What are you doing out of school?" a town guard said grabbing Aang's shirt

"Uh shopping" he said sliding his pouch of money onto the shelf and mouthing for Kagome to buy what she wanted with it, as the guard dragged him away

"Right, smart mouth, we're going back to the academy"

"Damn" Kagome mumbled, feeling a lot less at ease without Aang "Toph got any suggestions?" Kagome asked grabbing the pouch he'd left and tying it onto one of the strings that hung loosely on her belt

"Seriously? Twinkle Toes was standing in front of it the entire time, he wants you to try a bow and arrow" Toph said passing her small calloused hands over her face

"Oh, a bow and arrow?" Kagome mumbled looking up at the rack filled with them, right where Aang was standing, where he'd left the money for her "That should have been an obvious first, huh?" she said sheepishly, her eyes searching the shelves for one that looked sturdy to her untrained eye 'I'd ask her for her opinion, but she's blind, she'd know nothing about archery' Kagome thought, her eyes resting at the plainest of long bows available 'Well it's red' she thought picking it up and holding it in her hands 'but so is everything else in this god forsaken nation' she thought slightly bitter 'and I've got to say, I do like the gauze or padding...whatever it is' she thought running her fingers across the center portion of the bow "Yosh! Now I need some arrows and a quiver" Kagome mumbled looking around a bit lost

*Sigh* "This is getting to be less and less fun" Toph said moodily pointing towards her upper left "They're up there, hurry up and pick, I'm getting bored"

'Well Gezz' Kagome thought, grabbing a plain solid black quiver with a thick leather strap and a handful of standard iron tipped arrows

"Buy those in bulk" Toph said "We can't be sure when there'll be another town we can go to and restock on those" she said nodding when Kagome grabbed almost all of the same kind of arrows, filling her new quiver, as she went to the clerk to pay

"You should learn" Toph said, stopping right outside the shop "How to make some by yourself, in case you're ever running low I'd suggest using the money on a self teaching book and supplies" she said turning her back on Kagome and walking

"Where are you going?" Kagome asked, feeling exposed and unsure of herself

"Nowhere" Toph mumbled, disappearing in the crowd

Kagome just breathed forcefully out of her nose "Why do I feel like her being all alone is worse than me being lost here" Kagome thought feeling a heavy drop in her stomach, and a tender ache in her head 'maybe it's separation anxiety...wait it's me and Toph, we barely even like each other' Kagome thought shaking her head 'Still, something feels a little off'

~xXXx~

"Look, I know you want to play school for a couple more days, but we have a schedule to keep."

"But I-"

"No buts young man, if you go tomorrow you're grounded" Sokka said turning around with a stern look on his face "And Kagome, where have you been young lady!" he said stroking the fake beard that sat slightly askque on his face

Kagome just sweat dropped at him "I was having a hard time finding books and some supplies for arrow making and bow repair and maitence" she said lugging her bags in a large yellow pack that seemed to be double her width "I even got this pretty yellow bag for free with it" she said setting it down on the ground, and opening it up

"Whoa, Kagome, how much did you buy?" Aang asked walking over to see what was in the bag

"Well" Kagome drawled, setting down her bow and quiver full of arrows "after I got these, Toph said I should buy in bulk, since we don't know when we'll be able to shop again, and she also said I should learn how to make arrows, in case I run out" she said pulling out a few blocks of varying wood "So I got these, and some metal" she said pulling out two chunks of iron and letting them fall with a heavy thud "I got two books, one to teach me how to make arrows, the other on how to care for my bow" she said pulling out two books one green and the other orange "And then I was gonna go buy some food..." she said trailing off, and furrowing her eyebrows "But I ran out of money, so I figured we can go shopping again tomorrow, since the pouch ran out" Kagome said handing a gawking Aang the emptied velvet bag

"Why did you do that?" Sokka said, snatching the bag from a speechless Aang and flipping it out, incase anything was left

"Do What?" She asked confused, blinking her dark blue eyes at him

"Spend all of our money!"

"I-I spent all the money..." Kagome whispered, setting her head down in shame, her raven hair making a barrier between them and her face "I'm so-so sorry I didn't know you'd be reckless enough to leave all the money in one bag, let alone give it to the person with the least amount of knowledge of our funds" she said looking up at them with tears in her eyes

"Uh Aang, did she just insult us?" Sokka asked, blushing along with the younger boy, the both of them feeling guilty for making her cry and embarrassed at her reasonable critique

"Yeah" Aang said a little uncomfortable, "Uh, we should make her feel better" he said panicking when Kagome started sniffling loudly

"I can't give it back either" she said the waterworks beginning "They said it was all on sale, no refunds" Kagome cried, collapsing on her bag

"Ka-Kagome there, there" Aang said patting her back awkwardly "it's fine, we were gonna need that stuff anyway when the invasion starts" Aang mumbled gesturing to Sokka to help

"Yeah, we survived without food money before, I'm sure us being in the enemy nation will only make it difficult-Ouch!" Sokka glared at Aang, who'd flicked a pebble at his temple and gestured to Kagome who'd only cried harder since he started blubbering "I-I mean, it's not that bad, we can still steal things when we need it" he said seeing Aang face palm

"It's not that" Kagome said her voice heavy and drowned in tears and fabric "It's that you left me so much money, more money than I've ever had in my life, and not only do I waste all of it" she said sitting up, a shamed look in her glassy puffy eyes "There's no way I could possibly pay you back" she said squeezing her small hands together

"Don't worry about it" Sokka said mussing her hair "Just stop crying"

"Yeah" Aang said standing up "You're a lot prettier when you're not doing that" he said smiling cheesily down at her

Kagome just nodded at them and watched them walk away 'God what is wrong with me?' she thought, putting away all her things 'I'm never this emotional' she thought setting her hands over her bow and quiver 'I mean yeah, I feel horrible when I can't pay people back, but ever since..' "Ugh" Kagome breathed out pressing her knuckles against her temples 'I thought the visions were supposed to go away' she let herself fall to the ground, a figure robbed in white fur looming in her mind's eye leaned down to her, and reached a single grotesque hand to her, bone and flesh replaced with that of a thousand insect parts "Get Away!" Kagome screeched, a warm feeling erupting from her hands

"Agh" A girl's voice answered "What the hell, do you want to fight Scardy Cat?"

"Ugh" Kagome sighed out feeling drained "what happened?" she said opening her eyes to a furious looking Toph

"You-I dunno, tried to-to shock me or something" Toph said rubbing her eyes for a second and then shaking her head "you took my...earth bending sight away for a second" she said glaring down at Kagome, her pale green eyes casting an eerie shade in the waning twighlight

"I'm sorry" Kagome said monotone "I think...thought you were something else" Kagome said shaking her head and getting up "Sorry I scared you" she said facing the direction of the cave they'd decided to sleep in

"I" Kagome heard her speak in a low whisper, something about the way she spoke made her skin crawl, and her senses swim in adrenalin "am not afraid of you spirit bender" Toph said digging her nails into Kagome's sleeves, making her eyes widen in alarm "I will-"

"Toph, Kagome!" Katara yelled running up to the two, and breathing in puffs to catch her breath "I've looked everywhere for you two!" she said smiling

"Oh put a sock in it Sugar Queen" Toph sassed back her had sliding gracefully from Kagome's person to fold firmly on her chest "We haven't been anywhere"

"Right, well dinner's ready we're having soup!"

"Again! Can't ever have anything good, can we?"

'Something's wrong' Kagome thought hanging back and letting their conversation echo at the back of her head 'Whoever that was talking to me, it couldn't have been this same girl' she thought seeing the youngest one tease the other about her cooking method and look back at her with flashing dagger eyes

'Or maybe she just decided she hates me' Kagome thought feeling her hairs stand on edge

"Kagome, you agree with me right?" Katara called over her shoulder peeking back at the other girl "Kagome?"

"Sure" Kagome mumbled staring at Toph through narrowed eyes

"See Toph she knows quality when she tastes it" Katara said triumphantly looking at her friend "Hey, you know, you don't look so well" Katara said forcing Toph to look at her "You seem paler than normal, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah" Toph answered, looking ahead "I feel fine" she said sitting on the opposite side of the fire from Kagome

'I need to talk to Aang about this, some time tomorrow' she thought slowly eating her soup 'I have to at least let him know something's been strange since she left today'

~xXXx~

_"Wake up"_

_"..."_

_"You will die if you don't learn to properly sense and protect yourself from enemies" *snap* "Look, I know you're still new to this, and it's even harder since you have to learn from my memories, but you NEED to wake up now" what sounded like a woman, said from the darkness that surrounded her "hurry, you don't have much time"_

*Groan* "Go Away" Kagome thought trying to quiet the voice

*snicker* "This was too easy" a voice said seemingly from outside whatever realm Kagome was in

_"Oh god, she's going to kill you, and then Aang, you'll have been the only miko ever to fail to protect the Avatar" The voice whispered urgently, rousing Kagome a bit_ "_Good now snap awake and purify her"_

"Nice knowing ya spirit bender" the girl whispered, pressing her hands to Kagome's midsection where her belt sat

"Toph" Kagome mumbled out sleepily "What are you doing?" she asked, looking into the other girl's oddly glowing eyes

"..." She said nothing simply stared into Kagome's face for a long while, before blinking and revealing blood red irises and a sickening smile cutting clear across her face "I'm killing the last Miko" she said plainly, crumpling her metal belt as if it were nothing more than clay, around her ribs

Kagome attempted to howl out a pained scream, the sound of her brittle crumbling bones drowned to her own ears by the screaming of her mind

"Was that necessary?" Toph asked, sticking her face up to her's, smothering Kagome's mouth with her clammy and cold hand "Now I'll have to kill you all the more faster" she said grinning, at the girl who currently had tears streaming down her face "And here I thought it might get exciting" she whispered holding up one of Kagome's arrows and holding it just before her neck "I suppose I'll live though" she said letting the arrow's tip press against her jugular

'Oh god please stop this crazy demon bitch from slicing my neck' she cried internally, the excruciating pain of her broken ribs pressing into her lunges with the weight of the girl who sat on top of her 'Get off!' she commanded feeling something erupt from her chest, hitting the other girl straight in her torso

"Aggghhhhhgh!" Toph shrieked out convulsing on the cave four, and waking the others "Damn you Miko!" she cursed one arm reaching out to claw at the other girl's face "I'll tear you apart"

"Toph!" Aang yelled, whipping his staff at her and sending her flying into one of the cave's walls, his staff caught in her grasp "What's wrong with you!" Aang screeched at her, as she wreatched his staff away from him

"Kagome!" Katara screamed in horror, engulfing her hands with water and setting them over her body "Aang, hurry! Kagome's body is trying heal but her belt has one bone puncturing her lunge" Katara yelled to him histericaly her eyes watering "if Toph doesn't metal bend it off she'll drown in her own blood" she said in a broken voice, squeezing the other girl's hand in her own

"Toph!" Aang half yelled half pleaded "Please stop this, help her!" he commanded wincing when Toph shattered his staff against the same rock wall he'd flung her to

Toph simply laughed at him, dark humor evident "You know I am not this 'Toph' you keep crying for" she said red irises flashing at him

"Oh no" Sokka breathed out, looking at 'Toph' and then back at Kagome, currently trying to sit up, blood pooling at the corners of her mouth as she whispered something to Katara "Aang, Toph made a deal with one of them" he said is voce echoing a hollow sound

"Right-o" she said grinning toothily at him "It was back when she was a mere child, asked for sight, and since we demons cannot gift life to something that's dead, I simply strengthened her bending so she could 'see'" it said cackling loudly "In return I was promised one day in her body" it said sliding her small pale feet apart "I still have a few hours left"

"Don't" Aang said his entire form shaking "Test me, it won't take much effort to destroy you" he said his face twisted into an almost pained mask of fury

"Ahh true, but, to destroy me you'll have to do irreparable damage to this body, way beyond your water tribe friend there could fix, and I doubt your dying miko, if by some miracle, survives, even has the knowledge to save this body" it said smirking at the young boy through Toph's body

"Toph, come on, you can't let that sleazy spirit take over your body, fight back!" Sokka yelled, his body shaking in restraint when the small girl turned her head up and cackled in an inhuman voice

"She can't hear you ningen" it said, peering at him through eyes that danced with an odd sort of madness "she made a deal that she must comply with" it said smiling softly at them, her small mouth and tiny, square teeth set in what could have passed as a look of fondness "Not that she fought very hard against me, some small part of her wants you-"

A shuttering breath hitched and echoed in the cavern "Shut up" a girl said softly, painfully before a single luminescent arrow sailed through the air, grazing the girl's right foot

An unearthly sound pierced through the night and Toph fell to the ground

"Toph" Kagome said in the smallest of sounds "Are you alright?" she rasped clutching at her throat with one hand and with the other, she tried feebly to peel off the quarter-of-an-in thick metal that stuck in a crumpled mess to her body

"Kagome" Toph said her limbs shaking, her hand unconcionsly moving to cover the shallow gash in her foot "What the hel-"

"Shit" she cursed fumbling around on the floor until she felt someone's hand lead her to Kagome's body "Lay her down on her back" Toph winced placing a hand on her side where she'd been slammed into the rock by Aang "Katara, I need you to block off her chakra for a second, if I loose control of the metal while bending it out of the way, it could just slice her" Toph said seeing Katara look at her with concerned eyes, and simply nodded, while Aang and Sokka huddled around them

"Kagome" Toph said not looking at her "I'm, I'm sorry, I didn't even think…" she mumbled her lip trembling "..I-wasn't myself when-"

"Stop" Kagome said her own shaking hand reaching to grip her hand "you're a lot prettier when you don't do that" she said, choughing, and pushing out her fingers to Toph's face "I forgive you" Kagome said catching one of the slowly falling tears falling from her face "Now fix me" she said in a murky voice, like her mouth was being choked with cotton

"Toph hurry, I've blocked them but I'm not sure how her body will fair without the added healing" Katara said urgently, seeing the blind girl's look intensify in concentration

"Kagome?" Toph said softly, placing her hands over the mangled belt

"Mmm?" she acknowledged, her half lidded eyes rolling back in their sockets in pain, her hand that still gripped Toph's left hand dug into her skin, before becoming lax

"I need you to do something for me" she said, tugging her hand away from Kagome and patting away the wetness of her tears "I need you to take the biggest breath you can, now!" she said, her hands darting out to peel the scrap away

"AaaaarrrrrRRRRRRGGGHHHH!" Kagome's scream blasted through the cave, her body being freed of the crushing element

"Toph, move" Katara said, removing her hands from the other girl's back and opening up her gi "Sokka, get me more water" Katara commanded, baring Kagome's taped chest and bending her water onto her midsection "This isn't good" Kagome frowned looking to Aang "Her body can heal from this but.."

"But?" Aang asked, his large grey eyes growing frightened at her tone

Katara looked at Kagome's fairly still body, sadness raidiating from her in waves

"Katara, what is it?" Toph asked, sitting like a child on the ground

"We took too long" she said exhaling through her nose "her bones didn't set right, and unless.." she looked piteously at Kagome who peered at her with one eye "Unless we re-break them, they'll stay splintered and misshapen like they are now"

Kagome just laughed humourlessly "Well that's shit" she said letting her head drop to the ground as she smiled at the others "Some guys get all the luck, huh?" she said feeling the tense atmosphere "So who's gonna be the one to do the deed?"

"Kagome…" Aang whispered out, sadly, grabbing her hand "I'm so sorry"

"Don't be, this is part of saving me, so do it" she said bracing herself for the pain she knew was coming

"I'll do it" Katara said, bending the water Sokka had brought her onto her arms "I'll be the one who could do it most accurately and in the quickest way possible" she said seeing the others nod

"When I wake up" she said quietly eyes shut tight, "I want " everyone stilled "you all to train with me" she said smiling "I almost missed Toph earlier"

There was a wave of somber agreements, and then she felt cool tendrils of water wrap around her in almost a loving embrace "Thanks Katara"

Katara remained silent, and through the water Kagome felt her fingers rest lightly at her sides for a moment "I'm sorry" Kagome heard her sigh out, before everything went black.

* * *

Sooo, you should review, because they make me happy, and a happy clarissa is one who writes more :DDDD


	4. The Path of a Gaurdian

aha, hey guys, sooo I updated! yay! now if you want another one-shot to hold you over I'd sugest votting on the pole I have on my profile! If no one votes I'll run rampent and do a whole mess of them!

_**Ch 4**_

_**"The Path of a Gaurdian"**_

* * *

**_"Move demon!" a harsh unyielding voice rang out "Leave or be purified!"_**

"We are all different" 

_"You killed her" a sad and shaking voice said quaking with anguish "All you humans do.."_

"Be we demon, human, or otherwise"

**"I've seen what your kind does when out of control…." a deep sound reverberated all around, a dark figure began to fade into slight clarity**

_"Is betray" the voice said, anger burning through the hazy sight, the dark figure sending an aura of hate to her person "And destroy…"_

"You must look beyond your past lives' feelings"

**"We must wipe your kind off the face of our precious world" the figure ground out menacingly as it grew larger "For the good of all that live under the sun…"**

_"For the good of all beings that are hunted savagely by you ruthless humans.." the second voice rumbled, its expanding edges growing sharp_

"And decide for yourself what your true feelings are to both demons and humans"

**"I vow…" it said suddenly halting all movement**

_"I promise…" the voice said in a whisper_

"Only then will your path lead to salvation"

**_"…To kill you all" it said solemnly, its form bursting outwards_**

*chough chough*

"It's cold tonight" a hushed voice mumbled, shifting from across her on the saddle "How are you feeling?"

"Tired" Kagome answered after a short pause "and a little sore" she said feeling along her sides "How long was I out?"

"Only two days" Aang answered "that's pretty good, I mean last time I was injured, I was out for two whole weeks" he said smiling hollowly

Kagome looked at him pensively seeing dark circles under his eyes "Did I wake you?"

"No" he sighed "I was well, not dreaming, it was more like a nightmare" he said looking out over the course of sea they were above "You had the same one"

"How do you know?" she asked curious, laying her head down and staring up at the starry sky

"These past few days, you've been mumbling the exact words I heard in my dream, in your sleep" he said sliding her grey eyes to her form "that figure" he said pausing as if thinking about it "…it was hate, hate of the people we once loved, for one another"

Kagome nodded solemnly sadness welling up in her heart "Hate our past selves felt too" she whispered, mutual understanding filling the void between them

"Aang, can I ask you something" Kagome asked staring into the familiar crescent moon and hearing a faint 'uh' of approval "have you ever met a good demon?" She asked, trying to picture the white haired boy in red she'd sometimes see in her dreams

"Not personally" he answered, unfolding himself from his seated position and stepping lightly around the others "but that might be because almost every demon that's willing to show itself is a pawn of Naraku" Aang softly said, stopping atop Appa's head and grabbing his reigns, guiding him down to a small tree covered island

"Ah" Kagome voiced out, turning to face his back as they began their decent "I remember, he was the Spider demon Koh helped escape"

"Mhmm" he hummed out quietly "the one I told you about, almost every demon we've fought chose to die rather than say anything, but the ones who didn't mentioned that he was their leader and in seconds were nothing but a pile of mush" he said, Appa grunting a bit as he touched the floor, jostling the others just enough to stir them awake "We don't know what he's capable of, or if he is even involved in the conflict with the fire nation" Aang said as the others groggily began pushing their sleeping bags onto the ground "We just know he is after us" Aang said, sounding frustrated

"Aang" Kagome said, reaching out her arms to hug him from her spot on the saddle "relax" she whispered, resting her forehead on his back "and get some sleep" she said feeling him press his forearms over hers "We're both gonna need it for training tomorrow"

~xXXx~

'Okay' Kagome thought, pulling back another arrow 'I'm doing surprisingly well for my first day' she mused, cheerfully letting the arrow fly

"Another bullseye!" Sokka said astonished "Are you sure you've never done this before?" he said tugging the arrow from a mangled tree

"I'm not sure how I'm doing so well" Kagome said scratching the back of her head "But as far as that purification energy goes I have no clue how to transfer it into an arrow"

"Hmm" Toph droned, looking sneaky and snickering at Kagome with a Cheshire grin on her face "You know Miss Kitty, I think I can help with you're learning block" she said laughing manically, the rest of the gang just sweat dropped

'Dear god, this girl's gonna murder me' Kagome thought, seeing the madness flicker in her friend's eyes

~xXXx~

"now I'll admit, I wasn't in control the other night when…well you know what happened" Toph said a sort of lingering shame in her voice "But that shithead couldn't shut me out completely, I could hear his thoughts" she said cracking her knuckles "And the entire time the sentence, 'Kill her fast, in her sleep' kept repeating " she said pausing for a second "Now it just dawned on me, but maybe you're like Twinkle Toes here, where you can only focus on the hard stuff when something important is on the line" she said raising an eyebrow when Kagome began frowning at her

"You are not seriously considering…"

"OH! But I am" she said, her wide grin blooming on her deceivingly innocent face

Kagome sighed and reached into her hideous yellow bag, pulling out one of her books "Fine, just don't damage it"

"…" Toph stared at her from across the clearing, and then began smiling again "Alright, set it down" Kagome followed her directions tenderly setting the book on the soft grass

"Now" Toph said raising her hands "I want the rest of you guys to watch" she said forcing down both hands and commanding the earth to swallow the manual whole

"..ah….ugeh…" Kagome stood pointing indignantly at Toph, unintelligent yelps coming from her open mouth

Toph whistled "I'm impressed Kagome" she said waving a hand in front of her face "Your state of shock is lasting twice as long as everyone else's" she laughed in a mocking tone "you know if you don't start soon I'll have to finish crushing your book"

"Toph!" Kagome barked, her anger at the young girl bubbling over as she drew an arrow from her quiver "I spent all of our money on the those things, if I allow you to destroy even one page from that book it'll be like throwing that money away" she said angrily "And until I find a way to pay it back there's no way I'll allow anything like that to happen" she said notching an arrow into her bow

Aang and Katara just blinked at Kagome's adamant display "Wow" Sokka mumbled at them munching on some fire flakes "I didn't know she felt so strongly about that"

"Che." Toph bared her teeth "Come at me then" she said pounding a foot on the ground and sending up a layer of stone to cover her body

Kagome squared her shoulders and glared at the earth bender and shot an arrow towards the girl's right side 'she's slower in that earth armor' she said seeing her dodge but her arrow nicking the outer layer and chipping it a bit

"heh." Toph laughed her arms raised "You know, If you take too long I'll have to pull out your precious scrape paper and rip it to shreds just for fun" she said mockingly

Kagome ignored her and shifted her stance seeing Toph shift as well 'Strange, she's blind, and even though she can see me move she shouldn't see the arrow' Kagome realized shooting two more on either side of her and seeing, though a bit delayed, her move sideways to avoid them both "How are you predicting my arrows?"

"Haha, so you figured it out? Clever girl" Toph said twitching her fingers "After that Demon was purified two days ago my earth sight became limited, so I'm trying out a new technique I've been toying with since we left the desert" Toph said forcing her wriggling fingers up and sending a dust cloud into the air around them

"Granted it's not perfect, but if I can feel the dust particles shifting in the air from the spin of your arrows, and the line of sand I placed on you shifting with the directing of your movement, then I should be able to avoid your attacks" Toph said proudly hearing a loud cheering from Sokka, and a subsequent smack

"Sorry you guys! Continue on with the training!" Kagome said in apology from somewhere beyond the dust

'hrmm' Kagome thought looking down at her feet and seeing sand piling up around her 'A new technique…' she thought, seeing little graduals of dirt lodging themselves on to the hairs of her arms '..Is usually hard to keep up with at first and harder to maintain at a distance' Kagome thought turning and sprinting away from the cloud

'If I get far enough I should be able to corner her to the rock face!' she thought, skidding to a halt and barely seeing the other girl's form in the dust 'Ugh, no way that's gonna work unless I can see her' she thought, seeing the dust settle

"Okay Kagome you've left me no choice" Toph sighed raising her arms "You've committed the worst of all sins, you ran away from me, and for that you must be punished" she said clamping her hands together

"Nooo, not the book!" Kagome screamed out running forward, her bow wildly swinging in front of her

"Heh" Toph smirked, pulling her interlocked hands back and toward her "So Aang means nothing?" she yelled, a huge dirt clump with Aang's head sticking out at the top was heading for the rock face, his features twisted in horror at his fate

"Stop it!" Kagome screamed dropping her bow and barreling into the other girl

**_'Can you handle them?..'_**

**_'Maybe..yes…why do you care anyways?' a harsh, somewhat moody sounding teen ground out_**

**_'Because' a warm loving voice said 'this power is to protect' said the sound that made her think of deep red flowers and the color green 'Not to hurt' the woman's voice cooed soothingly 'I'll only use my power to protect the ones I love, like you…Inuyasha'_**

"Just..don't hurt him" Kagome said sitting on top of Toph her arms forcing down Toph's shoulders

"uh.." Toph blinked, feeling and hearing a light pitter patter of tears falling onto her face 'man' she sighed internally 'Why do I always have to be the bad guy?' she thought forcing a breath out her nose

"Kagome" Toph called out making the other girl look at her "you did it, Kagome" she said smiling weakly "You completely nullified my bending"

Kagome just blinked at her an unexplainably deep sadness echoing in her soul, and slowly ebbing back

"If you can remember that feeling, or that thought while attacking, it should stay with your arrows" Toph said rolling away from her and regaining her Barings 'Whoa, she really did a number on me' Toph thought trying to feel for the stone she'd worn as armor 'is it…still under her control?' she thought walking towards the fuzziest parts of her sight and feeling a slight tingle in the sand…no..but it feels warm Toph though pleasantly, digging her toes into it.

Kagome hiccupped, and wiped her eyes staring into her palms '…It wasn't Aang I wanted to save so badly…' she thought sliding her eyes to the Avatar, where he'd passed out in the pile of dirt right before the rock face '…it was that half demon' she though closing her eyes "Inuyasha" she whispered, feeling a pulse of something inside of her, her skin was on edge '…am I..Mourning him?'

"Kagome, that was amazing!" Sokka said waving his hands around "You were like –pchew-pchew- with your arrows and then even when it looked like Toph was gonna beat you, you still won with your priestess powers!" Sokka said looking like an excited little kid

Kagome smiled at him, and blinked slowly wanting only one thing in the world right then "you know…I think I deserve a bath"


End file.
